New rule puts sailors at risk of losing their logins

Nov. 5, 2013 - 06:00AM
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At a time the Navy is trying to reduce sailors’ administrative distractions, they just came up with another one.

The following mandate went out Tuesday via the official Navy Detailer’s Facebook page: Sailors must now log in to “most Navy systems” every 30 days or their accounts will be deactivated. A reactivation will require a call to the Navy and Marine Corps Internet help desk (and possibly a long wait).

The Facebook post fails to mention which websites will require regular logins. However, the Navy Reserve posted a list of 18 sites (provided below) that are impacted by this new policy. Three of those sites are reserve specific. The rest impact everyone in uniform.

The new requirements are related to ongoing cyber upgrades. Last week, Navy officials said many of the service’s personnel-related websites would be down over the next few months as work is done behind-the-scenes to beef up security.

The need for system upgrades became apparent after hackers successfully infiltrated the Navy earlier this year. On Sept. 27, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian agents or proxies successfully breached the Navy. There is no evidence personnel data was hacked.

The Navy Reserve posted the following list of websites and applications requiring monthly logins: